EVERETT — Police have arrested a convicted sex offender accused of attacking a woman Oct. 29 outside her Silver Lake-area home and sexually assaulting her.
Daniel J. Miltenberger, 28, of Everett, was booked Thursday night into the Snohomish County Jail. He is being held on suspicion of first-degree rape, burglary and unlawful imprisonment.
“The suspect forced his way into a residence and raped a stranger while armed with a handgun,” Snohomish County detectives wrote in the arrest report. “The suspect is a danger to the community.”
A man’s DNA reportedly was found at the scene. On Thursday, police learned the DNA had been matched to Miltenberger through a federal database. The arrest was made about an hour later.
Bail was set at $1 million Friday in Everett District Court.
Miltenberger has 10 felony convictions in Washington. His criminal history includes assault, burglary and harassment. In one burglary, he broke into a woman’s apartment and assaulted her with a weapon, court records show. He also has a 2011 conviction in Clark County for communication with a minor for immoral purposes, which required him to register as a sex offender. He is described in Everett police records as a possibly armed “career criminal.”
At least two women also have accused him in court of domestic violence.
The sheriff’s office is checking with other local police departments on whether the suspect may be connected to any other assaults, spokeswoman Shari Ireton said. Miltenberger denied raping the woman and declined to speak with investigators, court papers show.
The victim, 23, had taken the bus home to the Silver Lake neighborhood south of Everett.
As she was unlocking her door, about 7 p.m., she was attacked by a man who had been hiding in the bushes, according to the report. He wore a mask over his face and pointed a handgun at her. He allegedly hit her, raped her and threatened to kill her.
As he left, he allegedly stole her backpack, thinking her cellphone was inside.
Investigators reviewed footage from nearby surveillance cameras. The footage reportedly showed a man hiding in the bushes as the young woman approached, court papers say. It also allegedly shows him running from the building with a backpack.
The woman said her attacker wore a cast on his right arm. Miltenberger’s right wrist was in a cast when he appeared in court Friday. Police records also show he was shot in that hand months earlier.
Miltenberger has been married since 2014, records show. In January 2015, his wife obtained a domestic-violence protection order. She alleged that he had threatened to cut her throat and burn down her house.
The wife’s protection order was dismissed later that month after she did not pursue criminal charges. In March 2015, another woman, Miltenberger’s then-girlfriend, also obtained a protection order. She alleged that he had choked her and pulled her hair. She described him as having a “Nazi Pride” tattoo on the back of his head.
Weeks later, Everett police alleged that Miltenberger used a knife to break out the woman’s car windows.
A felony charge, violating a protection order, was filed in July 2016. Prosecutors wrote that Miltenberger had thrown a lit cigarette inside the woman’s tank top and punched her in the face. He showed up at her house again in January, according to the charges. He was released pending trial.
Days later, on July 23, Miltenberger again faced questions from Everett officers.
He had sought medical treatment for a gunshot wound to his right hand, and the hospital alerted police. Miltenberger claimed he had accidentally shot at a bullet with a nail gun while making deck repairs. He said that somehow the nail activated the bullet and shot it through his hand. Police doubted his story, but he and his new live-in girlfriend refused to cooperate. The Daily Herald obtained documents about the incident through a public records request.
In those reports, officers said they already had been looking for Miltenberger to verify his address as a sex offender. He also had a warrant for his arrest in connection with his older cases.
Miltenberger was in state prison from 2007 to 2010, and again from mid-2012 to early 2014. His probation ended in November 2014, corrections officials said.
Miltenberger is not listed in the state and local sex offender databases, which focus on more serious sex crimes than his 2011 contact with a minor. Records show his home in north Everett is owned by an out-of-state church.
Reporter Diana Hefley contributed to this story.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @rikkiking.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
